


Up From Down

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: Rose Quartz's death impacts everyone deeply. Pearl hasn't smiled in years. / Pearlnet, fluff and angst. For the Tumblr prompt: “Have I entered an alternate universe, or did you really just crack a smile for me?”





	

Rose Quartz’s departure left the remaining Crystal Gems divided and broken.

 

She’d said her goodbyes, kissed them each in turn, and ordered that the trio not interfere—she’d kissed Pearl last, and the knight had dissolved into tears despite promises that she could take it. Garnet held her while she cried, and Rose had disappeared into Greg Universe’s van.

 

Steven was born, small and wrinkly and all too human, too unlike his mother for the Gems to really know what to do or say. Garnet asked Greg for some space, in a voice choked with emotion she’d never had trouble hiding before.

 

The Temple was cold and silent without Rose’s presence. Each of the remaining Crystal Gems retired to their rooms to grieve, and for several days, none emerged.

 

Amethyst was the first to leave, and Garnet had no chance to stop her before she warped off to who-knew-where. Even future vision wasn’t infallible, but Garnet’s heart wasn’t in the chase. The future didn’t interest her.

 

After a time, Garnet took to waiting by the Temple door for either of her companions. She wasn’t lonely, exactly, not in a sense that Pearl or Amethyst could fix—but ruminating and staring at her lava pit held her interest for only so long. Ruby and Sapphire had unfused briefly, but were united in their grief, and being Garnet felt… better. Less empty. Less like the future would collapse out from under them.

 

It was another two days before Pearl emerged from her room, tired and haggard, with puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks and unkempt hair. She didn’t even notice Garnet, not until the Fusion was directly in front of her.

 

Pearl froze, eyes downcast, and said nothing for several moments.

 

“I didn’t think you’d be here.”

 

Garnet nodded, even though Pearl couldn’t see it. “I wanted to be here if you came out,” she explained, voice dull, husky in the same way that Pearl’s was. They’d both cried more in the last few days than any number of days combined that they could remember since the war. That loss was different.

 

Garnet refused to think about that.

 

Pearl was silent, and then, shakily, with trembling fingers that weren’t sure and had never been afraid in the time Garnet knew her, reached out to clasp Garnet’s arm. “I can’t do this alone,” she mumbled, and Garnet drew her into a loose embrace. “I thought I could—I thought…”

 

Pearl didn’t need to finish, but Garnet didn’t cut into her silence. They had both thought this would be surmountable. They both expected to take it in stride, to be graceful, to rise to the occasion the way Rose had wanted them to.

 

When Pearl started crying, Garnet swept her up in her arms and sat down in the lee of the Temple’s hands, facing away from the too-bright summer sun. It should have been raining, Garnet thought, because then _she_ could cry, too. Instead she was silent and held Pearl, who sobbed raggedly against her and had never felt so small in her arms.

 

This continued off and on for days; Pearl would excuse herself to her room, sometimes, and Amethyst still hadn’t returned. Garnet learned to keep a mask firmly in place, to be the rock that Pearl needed so desperately in this time of crisis. Artifacts went ignored for weeks, and monsters had the good grace not to attack.

 

But eventually, Amethyst returned, and soon enough, they couldn’t put off their missions anymore. Pearl was eager for a distraction, and while Garnet didn't share her sentiments, there was work to be done. The Crystal Gems had to carry on Rose’s mission.

 

A year passed, then another. The Crystal Gems were more secluded now than ever, but Greg visited often, brought Rose’s son along, and they marveled in the way he grew. He was small and couldn’t speak, not yet, but he had taken to his mother’s teammates immediately; he played with Garnet’s hands, tugged on Amethyst’s long hair, and on the rare occasions when Pearl got close enough, he pressed his chubby hands to his cheeks and blew what Greg described as kisses, even if they were more like wet raspberries.

 

It was only a matter of time before the Gems had to care for him. Steven showed signs early on of his heritage, and Greg was completely ill equipped to handle it. Somehow, and Garnet’s future vision backed it up, the boy’s inclusion in the Crystal Gems was inevitable—not yet, but soon. Soon enough that they started work building a small house for him. Pearl did an insurmountable amount of research, Amethyst collected materials, and Garnet helped plan. Planning for this kind of thing, she found, was one thing she could do with confidence. It wasn’t something she had to emulate Rose on.

 

Amethyst and Pearl fought during the construction, and Garnet would separate them. Her newfound authority wasn’t welcome, but there was no other voice of reason.

 

One day, one Garnet would remember for decades to come, she caught Pearl humming a tune while she sawed through what would eventually be floorboards. The Fusion stopped short and listened. Pearl hadn’t sang in years, hadn’t so little as _whistled_ , and yet…

 

Garnet responded in kind, humming a low note to announce her presence; Pearl nearly dropped the handsaw, whirling to look up at her leader with startled sky-blue eyes. The song was forgotten immediately.

 

“I didn’t hear you,” Pearl admitted, pulling down the safety goggles she didn’t really need. Garnet nodded, reaching to tuck her hair back into place where the elastic had mussed it.

 

“You were singing,” Garnet said, and Pearl flushed up to the tips of her ears.

 

“Humming,” Pearl corrected automatically, ducking her face. Garnet’s hand settled in her hair, at the crest of her skull, the way she had before everything had gone wrong.

 

Garnet chuckled for the first time in ages, and Pearl stared back up at her, at the beginnings of a smile that lit her best friend’s face, long forgotten. Somehow, it raised her spirits higher than anything had in the last few years.

 

Pearl’s lips quirked up to match, a small, genuine smile, but her eyes were damp and she blinked rapidly against the onslaught of tears she couldn’t explain. Garnet pulled her in close for a hug, and the knight discarded her saw in favor of winding wiry arms around Garnet’s waist as tears overcame her.

 

But the smile wasn’t forgotten.

 

“Have I entered an alternate universe, or did you really just crack a smile for me?” Garnet teased, and Pearl’s sobs quickly mingled with giggles, helpless and tired and dull from disuse.

 

“Maybe,” Pearl managed, wiping her eyes, “No promises that I can do it again.”

 

Garnet laughed, pulling her closer still. “I’ll take what I can get,” she said, pressing a soft kiss into the other Gem’s wavy hair. “We can only go up from here.”


End file.
